A window into the Canadian experience during the world wars

Reunions

This reunion was organized by the Originals Club, founded in 1918 to bring together men who had gone overseas with the original 1st Division. There is an unmistakeable note of nostalgia in its description of the war years and the legacies of service.

Every November, former machine gunners in British Columbia assembled to remember fallen comrades and enjoy an evening together. On this evening, they were all too aware that another generation of Canadians had been forced to go to war.

In 1919, the members of London's Women's Canadian Club held a dinner for the returning 18th Battalion, just as they had done when the unit left London in 1914. Among the celebrities on hand were Sir Adam Beck and Hume Cronyn, MP.

Among the attendees at this 1947 cavalry reunion was Eric Flowerdew, whose brother Gordon had won the Victoria Cross for leading the charge by a squadron of Lord Strathcona's Horse at Moreuil Wood in March 1918.

The 2nd Battalion drew its personnel primarily from eastern Ontario, and fought in every major Canadian battle of the First World War. By the end of the war, over 5200 officers and men had served in the unit; 1353 were killed in action or died of wounds.

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Wartime Canada is constantly expanding its collections, and would be grateful for the donation or loan of any materials that can be scanned and added to the website. Please feel free to contact either of the project co-directors, Jonathan F. Vance or Graham Broad.